Arizona Smith and the Search for True Christianity

Keith is taking over the keyboard for a change of pace…

It seems to me and my highly opinionated self that Christianity has become a mystery. Rather than follow the simple, yet profoundly powerful message of the Gospel, we’ve let our faith become a set of moral and political standards. Christians everywhere search for this shadowy thing called “abundant life” or – depending on your translation – “life to the full.”

The hang-up is that most of us realize that there’s more to life. We intrinsically KNOW that one some major level we’re missing out. We don’t know what it is we’re missing out on, but we know that 9 -5, talking sports and being stressed out all the time is NOT what God was offering. So we stress more, struggle some and then quit. Repeat as needed.

And our lives look just like THEIR lives. No wonder the church is faltering! We’ve lost our power because we don’t even know what it is. We default to the party line, whether that line is “No DRINKING” or “Be a GOOD person” or “PRAY and read your Bible”. So we struggle, fail, and sit wondering why things aren’t better than they are. Worse than that, those outside the church see that and want nothing to do with it. What’s attractive about a bunch of people who preach rules and sow discord and misery?

But I will now reveal the secret. I will give you the golden ticket and answer all your questions. But be warned: the answer is so simple you will likely not hear it.

In Mark 12:30, 31 Jesus just lays it out there for us to ignore: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

Did you catch it? Re-read it. Go back to it. Pray over that. Struggle with it. Bring that to God and wrestle with Him over what that means.

That is the truth that sums up all truth. If you were to take your entire life and boil it down to the lowest common denominator, and then apply the equation you come up with to every aspect of your life it would look like this: LOVE GOD. LOVE PEOPLE. IT’S THAT SIMPLE.

Here’s the hard part: you CANNOT do that. It is impossible for you. You cannot love God. You cannot love your neighbor as you do yourself. You can – and should – try to do those things, but you WILL fail. Only God can do that.

So what do you do? If the secret to success is that simple, but you are incapable of following that basic truth, what hope is there? I have good news for you. God will do it for you. In fact, He wants to. He cannot wait to do such a work in your life and fill you with such power that you will feel like a superhero. Don’t go buy colorful tights though – you’ll just further the misconception that Christians are weirdoes.

Paul tells us in Romans 1: 5, 7 that “For in Him you have been enriched in every way – in all your speaking and in all your knowledge… Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” Lets recap, shall we? Hitting the highlights: IN HIM YOU HAVE BEEN ENRICHED and YOU DO NOT LACK ANY SPIRITUAL GIFT. God will work in you and enable you with the tools you need to live the life He calls you to. What you do is RECOGNIZE the truth, then BRING your questions and struggles and thoughts to Him, and then ASK for Him to reach into your life and fulfill His word.

I’ll offer you another warning as well: Do NOT chase after God unless you really want Him to really catch hold of you. It will mess your life up. Once God catches on to you (you’re not really capable of catching on to Him. He’s too big.) it will turn your life upside down. It will disrupt your norm.

The reason behind that is simple – almost as simple as the truth that will change your life. You can’t chase the things YOU want once God calls you for His purpose. Matthew 6:24 tells us pretty clearly what Jesus thinks about duplicity. “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

James says that “…friendship with the world is hatred towards God” (James 4:4a). He may tell you the same thing He told the Rich Young Ruler – go sell all the Wal-Mart crap you’ve collected and give that money to people who need it to just to survive (Mark 10:21 – my paraphrase). Maybe He’ll ask you to give up Saturday afternoon college football so you have time to volunteer somewhere. He could tell you to move to Africa or reconcile with an enemy. The list of what God might request (or require) is long. But I bet on two things: It’ll be something that turns your life upside down and that He’ll make it possible – and worthwhile.

After all, God doesn’t lie. He can’t say that He’ll give you life more abundantly if it’s going to be as dull and stressful as how you live right now!

Simple Lunch

If you know me at all, you know that I love to entertain: holidays, birthday parties, dinners, etc. You also should know I am poor and really don’t have the money to entertain the way I want to.

Keith and I decided to open up our doors every Sunday afternoon to anyone in the church who wants to come over to eat lunch. We invited people that we had never met and friends we love this past Sunday to kick it off.

We had been busy Friday and Saturday. My house was a disaster. (You have no idea how MUCH of a disaster. Its still not cleaned up from the bonfire.) We had a meeting right after church on Sunday so there was nothing on the stove waiting on these eight people who were waiting on me when I got home from said meeting.

Did I mention we are poor? I served these lucky folks a pot of potato soup. They ate out of Styrofoam bowls, drank out of Styrofoam cups, ate with plastic spoons and seemed to have a great time.

People ate, drank, talked and stayed for hours.

Amazing how a little love can transform even the simplest of lunches into a feast.

Busy Busy!

I really thought that school would start and I wouldn’t be so busy. Wrong!

Keith started school this week. I am doing all his classwork, homework and essays along with him. I will get educated even if I don’t get the degree. The education is what matters to me anyway.

The Girl Child seems to have high school drama daily. Did I tell you that in the first two weeks of school that she got asked out NINE times? Twice by Juniors. Oh yeah. She’s a Freshman. Her friends are all talking about her behind her back. I assume it’s because she is getting a LOT of attention. Her ex-boyfriend (AKA her best friend) hates her now. It’s a drama filled life around here. Think I can start her over in Kindergarten? Nah. I don’t wanna go through all those years again.

The Little Girls have gone back to their mom’s for the school year so she can “teach” them. Yeah, they are homeschooled. Did you know that instead of real schoolwork, you can attend Hogwarts Junior Correspondence Course? You will receive Owls in your tree every morning telling you what your assignments are. You study Herbology, Intro to Potions, Mythical Creatures and Wandmaking. Wow. If I had done that course of study, imagine where I would be now. Wait. Don’t waste your time.

Soccer has started for the little girls. Yeah, that’s right. I am a soccer mom again. Not only that, but I am the Team Parent. Basically it means that I organize snacks and outings but heck, I enjoy it.

I am starting a small group for our girls’ youth group. Abby will be leading it (it’s peer lead) and I will oversee it. I bet we will have a blast with it.

Speaking of church (Kat, you can skip all this! ), we have Youth Group tonight in Soddy, Youth Laser Tag Saturday and Abby is going to her friend’s Youth Group on Sunday since we don’t have a Youth Group that meets at church.

Also on the church note, our small group is going to have a major overhaul. We are a group that does outreach in the community. So far all we have done (all. Ok I shouldn’t say “all” it is a pretty big deal) is build a house of Habitat for Humanity, feed the hungry every month and volunteer at the Children’s Hospital. I have had an epiphany though.

We don’t have to do big huge things to show God’s love. It’s really easy to stand out at an intersection passing out cold drinks and showing God’s love in a small practical way. Do small things with great love! If you are in the church, expect things to change!

I have been sewing up a storm. Not that much finished though. Started projects here and there. Lots of practice pieces. (I practice on sheets. Every. piece. I. make. I don’t want to mess up on “good” fabric.) My MIL bought me ten patterns yesterday. They were on sale. I got $157 worth for $21! The Girl Child got two of them for her wardrobe. I got eight. The little girls didn’t get any because I couldn’t find any that I thought they would like. I will have to take them and let them pick something out.

This weekend is Swing Fest @ Coolidge Park. We are uber excited. At least I am. We are going to go sit on blankets, eat picnic food, enjoy the big band music and practice our newly learned dance moves. If you want to have a good laugh, come see me.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Swinging

Last night, Keith took me to a dance lesson. We learned how to swing dance. It was a blast. I was horrible. I have two left feet and have the grace of a giraffe on roller skates. Still, I had fun. We are going back next week.

Sweet Cherry Skirt

I made my first skirt the other day. It only took three hours. Abby so kindly pointed out that the tutorial I was using clearly stated “Five Minute Skirt”. Thanks, child.
http://angrychicken.typepad.com/angry_chicken/2008/07/5-minute-skirt.html

Notice her disclaimer on the “five minute” part:
*Disclaimer: The 5 minutes only apply if you have a serger, all the supplies at the ready, and are sober. Please allow for extra time if your personal situation deviates from this.”

HAR!

It’s not perfect. But it’s wearable. I like it.

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.- Abraham Lincoln

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. – Abraham Lincoln

That’s what we want for our kids. Making memories. Living life. Loving life. A memorable childhood. Keith and I were talking the other night and realize that we don’t remember a whole lot of our childhoods. We are trying to intentionally remember some stuff and it’s amazing the little things we do remember but it’s a shame that we can’t remember so much.

We took the girls camping this past weekend. We went to a campground about thirty minutes from home. And yes, we slept in an air-conditioned cabin. We had electricity but didn’t use it other than the air-conditioning. The little girls haven’t ever went camping, so we chose to get a cabin and ease them into camping.

They had a blast! We swam (yes, they had a pool too. Shoot me.), we roasted marshmallows and made smores, we cooked every meal outside on the fire, we lounged around and talked, we played board games, we played in the arcade (Yes, I understand, it’s sounding like we didn’t really go camping but I promise we did. I have the bug bites to prove it.). Katie and Emily were in a marshmallow shooting contest. Emily won and was named The Annihilator. It really was a blast. They can’t wait to go back.

On Monday, we surprised them with a trip to the Nashville Zoo followed by the Rainforest Cafe for lunch! The little girls didn’t know where we were going (Abby found out via her boyfriend’s mom.). The ride up there was hell. Every few minutes you would hear “Are we there yet?” or “How much longer?” and “Plllleeeeeeeaaaaase tell us where we are going.

The zoo was a winner. They loved it. My favorite animal was the giraffe. They are so cool. My favorite time at the zoo? The indoor snake exhibit. Why? Didn’t I tell you it was inside? Air-conditioning.

The Rainforest Cafe was THE winner though. No kidding, Katie has told me about 27 times that “The Rainforest Cafe is the coolest place on Earth!”. Guess she liked it. I loved it. Keith loved it. Abby and Emily loved it. If you haven’t ever been to one, please do. Just make sure to take a fat wallet. We spent nearly $100. Now. We DID have a drink apiece. And we let the kids get cool frozen specialty drinks in souvenir cups. And ordered dessert. But it’s still pricey.

School started back yesterday! I am so excited. I get some peace and quiet. I get to clean my house really good and not have it messed up within five minutes. It doesn’t have to look like pigs live here. Of course, on the weekends we have kids, it will. Yesterday I cleaned the library thoroughly. I cleaned out all the papers on the desk and then organized it. Today I cleaned the living room top to bottom, organized our board games and then put away all the dvds that seem to accumulate when the kids are here and alphabetized them!

I have been getting up at seven for the past two weeks now. Odd, that is how long I have had my sewing machine. Now, some of you might scoff and seven, but you are talking to the chick who normally sleeps till ten and can sometimes sleep till 12. Yeah, I have been sewing. And now that I get up early, clean house early and have no children during the day, you know I am going to sew more often. Before you know it, I will be selling clothes online and you will buy them!

Off to get busy on that.

Love Never Dies

Our four year anniversary was this past week. Thursday to be exact. The girls and I planned out a very exhaustive day to celebrate. We cleaned house. We took baths (you have to smell good on your anniversary, according to Katie. Do I stink normally? ). We made cupcakes.

Abby cooked spaghetti (to go with our cupcakes), bread and fixed salads. Our friend Chip came over. We ate, drank and played poker all evening long.

Keith had already bought me some fabric and basic sewing notions as a present. I bought him a motorcycle. On Friday, he came home and gave me two more gifts: one was a brass knuckle necklace. I really like it. Its NOT something I would have bought for myself but I do like it and am wearing it now. He also bought me a Love Never Dies figurine. We have one of them on our mantle – it was our wedding cake topper. Here is the new one:

We spent the weekend alone. Or should I say without kids? Andre and Caitie came over before Keith got home on Friday. We went out for dinner with a group from church. After dinner, we had a couple (and by a couple, I mean Keith had two and I had three) drinks. Saturday we were GOING to go to the movies, but we didn’t wake up in time. Keith had a show Saturday night (it was really good!). Sunday we were going to go to the movie. Keith was taking a nap after church and we missed it. We did get to go out to dinner though.

It was a low key great weekend.

Next year, is supposed to be a big celebration: its FIVE years!

So Sew Not Easy

So my MIL bought me a sewing machine. I have wanted one for a couple of years now.

I do NOT know how to sew. At. All. I am teaching myself with the help of the internet and a few carefully chosen books. I scoured McKay for days looking for just the right books.

The first day I got it, I couldn’t do anything with it. Keith was having band practice and I was dyeing a girl from church’s hair (blue, if you care). The next day was our official anniversary and we had a friend over to join us for dinner. I finally got to get in there and learn.

Its not as bad as I had thought.
But.
Heather came to pick up the girls after I had been playing with it for a few hours – just trying to get it threaded. Yeah, I broke down and asked her for her help. She very quickly threaded it and seeing it one time, didn’t really help me. So I practiced some more. All I did that day was work on threading a machine.

The next day, I worked on practice stitches on an old sheet. Ok, its not really old, but I think my mom gave me the sheet and its plain white. I don’t like it. I digress. I spent the whole day sewing straight lines up and down the sheet.

I finally decided I was going to have to quit practicing my straight lines and just jump in. I made an apron out of a white sheet. It isn’t attractive, but it was my practice run. I finally worked up the nerve to tear up an old skirt and make it over into an apron. I like it.

Then I started (notice I started) a tote bag from an old t-shirt that I can no longer squeeze into. Its such a cute shirt that I refused to get rid of it and now I have something to do with it. But. My needle didn’t sew so well on jersey material so I put that project down.

I am sewing a skirt now. I am making it out of white sheet first, then re-doing in my cherry print fabric that Keith bought me for our anniversary. I will post a pic when I get that one finished.

Duck Cakes or Duck Cupcakes

For Katie’s birthday, I made duck cupcakes. They came to be called (thanks to Frank) Duck Cakes. It took two days to get them right. Every thing was Ducking Ducky. *Insert eye roll here* It took a long time but the result was worth it.

Katie loved them.

That’s what mattered.

You start out with mini doughnuts, donut holes and cupcakes

Cut the mini doughnut in half:

Put all the pieces together with icing:

Freeze the shape of the duck cake all together.
In the meantime, make some wing shaped candies and put em in the freezer. I got my candy molds at a cake decorating store. They were supposed to be swan wing’s and were meant for a wedding cake addition. I think they make fine duck wings.

When they are frozen, dip the ducks head down in some yellow icing. Attach your little wings to the icing.

For the face, use MINIATURE chocolate chips for the eyes. Stick the pointy side into the head. Cut up some Laffy Taffy and make beaks. Stick em in the head too.

Do not get too sloppy. Do not drink wine while making. Do not invite your best friend over to help you make them in mass. Do not drink wine with your best friend and make sloppy duck cakes.

Rock n Roll Princess Skull Birthday Cake

Since I posted the duck cakes, thought I should post the Rock N Roll Princess Skull Birthday Cake too.

This one was so easy. I didn’t have good frosting though so it looks very… ehhh… goopy? Is that a word?

Its two round cakes and 14 cupcakes.
Take the first round cake, place it for the main part of the skull.
Use the other round to make the mouth piece. Use a serrated knife. A butter knife or something akin doesn’t work. The cake will just crumble up.
Use the cupcakes to make the crossbones.
Ice it all.
Put the pretty little face on it (chocolate frosting).
Attach a pretty pink hair bow.

Voila! Em’s Rock N Roll Princess Skull Birthday Cake!